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With 50 sq ft, India's first pod hotel opens in Mumbai

Hotel room in India has just shrunk.

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Hotel room in India has just shrunk.

Entrepreneur duo of Shalabh Mittal and Hiren Gandhi have launched a hotel in Andheri in Mumbai with pods between 50 square feet and 90 sq ft.

Urbanpod, the 140-unit hotel, started operations on Wednesday and is the only such offering in the country. It offers classic (single occupancy), private and suite pods.

Such hotels are common in Japan, Russia, US, UK, the Netherlands, Singapore and Malaysia.

Mittal, chief executive officer of Mercator Ltd, and Gandhi, head of Vadodara-based Express Group of Hotels hold 45% stake each in Urabanpod, with the balance 10% held by Berlin Lee, promoter of Formwerkz, a Singapore-based architectural and interior design firm that has also designed the pods. The promoters have invested to the tune of Rs 12-odd crore in the business so far.

The hotel offers 10 suite pods with queen sized beds that can accommodate two guests, six private pods, 18 pods exclusively for female guests and 106 pods for male guests.

The pricing of between Rs 2,000 and Rs 2,500 per pod is inclusive of breakfast.

"We also have a 60-seater cafe that serves mini-meals like the ones you get onboard a flight," said Gandhi adding that the entire project cost (excluding enterprise cost) is around Rs 9 crore and the per bed cost is in the range of Rs 8-9 lakh.

Each pod offers guests a comfortable bed and bed cover, personal satellite television (with headphone facility), small personal locker to store valuables, adjustable lights / reading light, charging points/ free wi-fi, adjustable air-conditioning facility, a dresser (wall mirror), sliding door (shutter) with locking facility – for privacy.

Gandhi told DNA Money that the concept caught his classmate and co-founder Shalabh Mittal's attention in Singapore. "While India's hospitality and tourism industry certainly offers different types of hotel accommodation, finding a reasonably priced hotel room in a metro is still a challenge. Out boutique smart hotel with pods will address this challenge by offering new age smart travellers looking for fuss-free and convenient living at very attractive pricing," he said. The target audience will be single, transit and group travellers and backpackers.

Occupying the first floor of Opus Park, a commercial complex in the Andheri SEEPZ area of suburban Mumbai, the pod hotel was put together in a record time of nine months from acquiring the site on a nine-year long lease.

The pods sourced from China were assembled at the site after taking into account the structure (beams and pillars) of the site.

Gandhi said the plan is to have 1,000 rooms in the next three years across key metros. "It's a very new offering for India and we will take some time to achieve profitability. Based on our estimates, a 65% occupancy level with an average room rate of Rs 1,800 to Rs 1,900 should help us break even and make the hotel unit profitable in 12-18 months.

Once the proof of concept is in place we should be able to successfully replicate this model in partnership with owners of commercial real estate on a revenue sharing basis. We could also look at a management and franchise model for those looking to invest in the space and pod-based accommodation," he said.

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